All Things Considered

Commonly referred to as "ATC" and a staple for afternoon commutes, NPR's nationally syndicated afternoon news magazine brings you closer to home with the presence of WAMU's local host.

Since May 3, 1971 All Things Considered has been produced every day from NPR's headquarters in Washington, D.C. Featuring a mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features, "ATC" produces 2 hours of fresh content every day for hundreds of public radio stations around the United States.

Elliott Francis

Local Host, All Things Considered

Francis has worked alongside some of the most influential media executives in the U.S. during his 25 years as a news anchor, including FOX News President and Chairman Roger Ailes, former CNN Executive Vice President Ed Turner, and the founder and former CEO of Johnson Publishing Company, John H. Johnson. In 2002, shortly after joining the ABC news affiliate in Washington DC (WJLA-TV) as the morning co-anchor, Francis was thrust into the rigors of live, non-stop coverage of the DC sniper shootings and investigation, sometimes speaking 8-9 hours unscripted. A skilled interviewer, Francis once convinced singer John Denver to go "on-camera" with details of his upcoming DUI trial.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Second term GOP congressman Blake Farenthold is being targeted during Congress' summer recess by advocates of the Senate's immigration bill. Activists are organizing petitions and a demonstration at Farenthold's "open house" at his Corpus Christi office. And opponents are fighting back.

On the new album Pushin' Against a Stone, the Tennessean surveys a spectrum of her home state's signature sounds. She tells NPR's Audie Cornish that she got over old anxieties about her singing voice by embracing it as a storytelling tool.

In a wide-ranging news conference before summer vacation, President Obama touched on domestic budget disputes, the next Federal Reserve chairman and immigration reform. But the key issue was national security, and how to strike the proper balance between safety and privacy.

At his press conference on Friday, President Obama promised more transparency about the government's secret national security surveillance programs. The president expressed support for some reform efforts being considered in Congress and called for the release of more documents that explain how and why the surveillance effort works and whether it safeguards the privacy of Americans.

More than 100,000 people of Japanese descent were put in camps during World War II. Decades later and inspired by the civil rights movement, Japanese-Americans launched a campaign for redress that culminated in an official apology. The community marks the 25th anniversary of that victory this week.

Tyson Foods said it will stop using the controversial drug, which fattens cattle, because of potential animal welfare issues. But many in the beef industry say the company is just interested in boosting exports to countries like China and the European Union, where growth-promoting drugs for meat production are banned.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Hungry bugs and warmer temperatures mean pine trees aren't producing as many seeds as they once did, driving up the cost of Italian pine nuts to $120 per pound in some cases. Cookbook author Julia della Croce found a colorful — and delicious — alternative in pistachios.

Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi led the recent ouster of Egypt's democratically elected president. Seven years earlier, he was a student at the U.S. Army War College and wrote a paper called "Democracy in the Middle East." He's the latest in a series of U.S.-trained military officers to topple a civilian government.

Rachel Renee Russell's very popular series stars a not-so-popular protagonist. The Dork Diaries are written by Nikki Maxwell, a misfit at a new school. Russell was inspired to write the books after seeing her own daughters struggle with the "dork" label during their teenage years.

The country also known as Burma is emerging from decades of authoritarian rule. But 25 years ago, in the middle of that dark period, there were six weeks of hope. Demonstrations brought millions onto the streets until a harsh crackdown left thousands dead and landed thousands more in prison.

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae announced Thursday that it made a $10 billion profit in the second quarter. Americans may remember that the government had to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when the housing bubble burst five years ago. Now, with home prices rising, Fannie and Freddie are profitable again. That's good news for taxpayers, as well as home buyers who count on the two companies to guarantee and finance most home loans. But some investors in Fannie and Freddie are angry. They say they deserve a share of those new profits.

In New Mexico, the cremated remains of the state's deceased indigents often enter a state of limbo. Many spend years on county storage shelves. But country officials are now trying to give these remains a grave, a headstone and a public memorial service.

The Internet has a history of blowing up business models. Now we buy music by the song, and who needs the newspaper for classifieds? But cable television hasn't budged much. You're still forced to buy a bundle of channels, whether you watch them or not.

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